Marginal Revolution: Variety magazine on the Serenity movie

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Variety magazine on the Serenity movie

I am getting a little worried, Variety magazine reports the following...

1. The movie is a "space oddity."

2. It feels like a TV production, even on the big screen.

3. It won't take off without a big marketing push.

4. The cast has good chemistry and the movie has a strong human dimension. Yet by now many of the premises appear less than fresh.

5. The movie's colors are dark and unappealing and the score is mediocre.

Variety reviews are usually reliable. Unlike most newspapers and magazines, they do not offer an aggregated and confusing "weighted average" assessment of both quality and popularity. Written for insiders, the periodical tells you how good the movie is, how popular it will be, which countries will like it (sometimes), and how it will do on DVD.

If you are lost, here is background information on Serenity. If you saw the movie on its brief early release, don't put any spoilers in the comments.

Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 30, 2005 at 08:40 PM in Film | Permalink

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Comments

I saw the movie during the last series of previews on June 23rd. I'm a big fan of the television show, so it's hard for me to judge how someone coming to the movie "fresh" would perceive it. However, if you're a fan of the television series, I think you will be pleased by the movie. It's got action, humor, heart, and romance. I will definitely be there again on opening day.

As for Variety's criticisms:

1. I'm not sure what "space oddity" means. Yes, no, what of it? Isn't Hollywood criticized for being too formulaic?

2. The special effects aren't as good as Star Wars, that's true. However, they were effective. And yes, it did seem less like a movie than extended episode. But I was still engrossed throughout, something that even the most polished movies often fail to achieve.

3. I don't know enough about the film business to know how much marketing the film needs. However, I think delaying the release until September was a good move, as it allowed more people like me to discover the series on DVD. The preleases also helped to generate a lot of buzz. Each time one happened, it was front page on Slashdot.

4. This is true. I'm not sure however, that they provided enough background to help those who haven't seen the series to care sufficiently about the characters.

5. The film is dark, but then, so was Blade Runner. It didn't detract that much from the experience for me. The film score was adequate though not particularly memorable.

I have other beefs, which I can't reveal without spoiling. But my beefs, such as they are, detract only minimally from my enjoyment of the film. I loved it, and highly recommend that you see it.

Posted by: Christopher Rasch at Aug 30, 2005 10:10:34 PM

If Variety is calling Serenity a "space oddity" because it is a western set in space with nary an alien in sight (much less ALIENS WHO ARE TRYING TO KILL US ALL), then I don't blame them.

I disagree on the marketing. Battlestar Galactica did very well on SciFi channel because fans who were able to download the show from generous Brits (the first season was shown in the UK before the US) generated great interest simply by word of mouth. Firefly also has a great following (#24 ranking in DVDs on Amazon.com almost 2 years after it was released) and I believe the movie will do well regardless of how much marketing Universal does.

Posted by: D S at Aug 30, 2005 10:28:30 PM

I am a loyal Firefly fan, but I would like the movie to interest non-fans too. Hehe, maybe enough popularity may revive the series! (whishful thinking, I know ;_;)

Just re-saw The Empire Strikes Back on Sunday. If Serenity has special effects like that, I'd be more than happy. It felt rugged and cool, even somewhat believable. There is no need for effects as seen in the new Star Wars (which I deem more as a special effects showcase...) where things look too "clean".

I do not get what "feels like a television" production mean. Budget-wise? A New Hope had a small budget. It worked ^_^.

Posted by: Zelnox at Aug 30, 2005 11:05:17 PM

"many of the premises appear less than fresh."
Well coming from the land of remakes, formula productions and endless sequels is that good or bad?

Posted by: T.W. at Aug 30, 2005 11:23:00 PM

I saw the movie during the preview screenings, and liked it.

1. Yes, it is a space oddity. So was Firefly, and it's worth remembering that that did not succeed on initial release; Serenity may not succeed in theaters. The hope this time for good box office (it will do quite well on DVD) rests on the fact that Serenity has an ready fanbase, and Firefly did not when aired.

2. I can't say whether it feels like a TV production or not. It does feel much more like Firefly than your typical summer blockbuster, but that is as I would have it. Perhaps they mean that it feels less perfectly self-contained than most movies?

3. I'm not in the business, but I do have hopes that word of mouth will make the movie.

4. The cast does have good chemistry, etc. I have no idea what they're talking about with the premises seeming less than fresh - the usual criticism of Firefly (made in #1 of your list) is that the premises are too fresh for plausibility.

5. I can't speak to criticisms of the score, as they had a placeholder score for all the previews. The palette used was quite dark, giving a gritty feel to most of the movie; some color balancing will have occurred since, but my understanding is that the process would have smoothed the look but not altered the basic palette.

Zelnox, the visual SFX were quite good - no fears on that score.

Bottom line: it is an excellent movie if you've seen the series and know the characters; I certainly intend to see it a further time or two in theaters. If you haven't seen the series, it won't be as good. I think it should still be good enough to pack the theaters, but we'll find out soon enough.

Posted by: HC at Aug 31, 2005 7:24:45 AM

Having sacrificed a disposable email address to Variety and whoever they may sell it to, and looked at the actual review -

The 'feels like a tv show' qualm is because Serenity apparently employs more soundstage work than most movies. I don't know that this is noticeable to those outside the industry, but it might be. I did not not notice it at the preview showing I saw.

The comment about the premises being less fresh is simply that US sci-fi movies have often been westerns with sfx, and westerns have done oriental crossovers before. My guess is that this will matter to film critics, but not to audiences - the western genre has been fallow for a while now.

The most important part of the review, to me, is the paragraph where the reviewer notes that familiarity with the original series is unnecessary, 'as a tight opening effectively recaps the backstory.'

Posted by: HC at Aug 31, 2005 8:01:41 AM

I'm excited about the movie now because I've seen the DVDs, but the first time I saw the preview, I distinctly recall my reaction being "meh."

Posted by: Ted at Aug 31, 2005 9:46:30 AM

Re: fresh premises. I am unaware of mainstream productions which integrate the cowboy and sf aspects in a plausible manner. Nor do I recall any in which China was assumed to be so influential that characters offhandedly cuss or mutter in Chinese. [Though in the tv series, the accents are weird enough that they often sounded like they said something else than I presume they meant to say. Gotta clean that up for the international audience.]

I fear, though, that it will indeed by too quirky for the general public. After all, most critics thought the original Matrix was too complicated.

Posted by: jn at Aug 31, 2005 10:24:21 AM

I'm not particularly excited about Serenity, though it should be a concept aimed directly at me. I think the plotting of the series is very reminiscent of Star Trek (all series) - linear, wooden characters, each episode wraps up neatly - rather than Babylon 5. Deadwood is far more incisive about the human condition in a lawless setting; Battlestar Galactica is a moving, well-written space opera far in advance of Firefly.

Posted by: Ed Steussy at Aug 31, 2005 5:08:19 PM

I saw the movie - awesome! - it's the star wars movie I've been waiting for for years.
don't worry -it will be a success because it's good/fun/funny

Posted by: nellie lide at Aug 31, 2005 10:26:03 PM

Variety Magazine? That old bladder! Who cares what they think anyway. Variety in what? Blandness?

I'll bet they gave the Green Mile and Mission Impossible a good reveiw too. Some people just need to evolve a little bit more, into sentient beings who enjoy intelligent, interesting movies as opposed to sentimental little bits of pap. They're probably sitting there rubbing their collective hands together as they chortle over "when Harry Met Sally" and other gems of inanity with Meg Ryan.

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